Clay Hills Lamp

7 September 2021

About a 2-minute read

I made this clay lamp last year (2020) out of no-bake clay. There’s a lamp cord embedded in the clay. After the clay dried (which took incredibly long, like a whole week!), I sanded it and spray painted it with a Montana Cans Granit faux granite finish.

I just posted it for free on Facebook Marketplace and got a lot of nice comments from people who wanted to pick it up! It’s in a new home now—I wonder where it will end up.

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I got some really sweet comments on Facebook that make me more confident in my work! Someday I would like to design lighting and furniture more seriously. Here are some of the many comments people sent the evening I listed the lamp:

Hi Travis! This lamp is absolutely beautiful - I love your work. Is it still available? I would be honored to have this in my home!

this looks so cool! are u down to meet in SF? id love to take it

Oh I really love this

This is super cool! I’m out of town but will be back this weekend. I’ll write again to see if it’s still available!

Hi Travis, i love this! is this still available? I could pick it up Sunday

Hey Travis! I would love to pick this up. Can i come today?

Hi Travis, this lamp is so cool!!! Is this still available?

Hi Travis. Wow I would LOVE this. It’s beautiful. I’ve been trying to find a way to light my dining room without having to pay for overhead lighting installation or using the really bright ceiling light. would never thought to find a handmade art piece like this!

How is this free?!? It’s so amazing!!!!

this is lovely I would love to take this

Nice lamp! Can’t believe you made that. I’m in Oakland too if its still available

Wow so creative!

Hi Travis, has anyone claimed this beauty yet? I’d love to give it a home! I could pick up tomo

It can be hard to see past the flaws I see in my work as the creator; by the time I finish something I already have ideas for what went wrong and how to make it better next time. For example, the clay around the light socket dried at a different rate than the solid mounds of clay and it cracked along the outside of the hill with the light in it. I didn’t feel comfortable selling the lamp because I have no idea whether that crack will propagate and cause it to fall apart, so next time I want to mitigate cracks better.

I am thrilled that people liked it and excited to make more lighting in the future!

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